About

When she’s not wheeling and dealing as Diet.com’s Business
Director, Meredith Oliver, aka Savvy Snacker, is sampling and reporting
on the best snacks for the weight coin conscious. We think she enjoys
the sampling part a bit more than the writing!

Healthy Eating Tips, Tricks and more!

Dieting During Football Season

Living with two guys makes it incredibly difficult to eat healthy, especially during football season. When I think of football I think of hot wings, pizza, chips and dip, and of course beer, lots of beer. As a fitness nut, I am constantly thinking of ways to keep my eating habits healthy. Every now and then I indulge leading to the agony of guilt. It may also lead to a downward spiral where I begin to overindulge because â€śI already screwed up, so another one (or four, or ten) wonâ€™t hurt.â€ť

To keep the agonizing to a minimum I have found myself coming up with substitutions for the â€śbadâ€ť game day foods. So I thought I would share with you my healthy alternatives that offer lots of flavor and satisfaction without the lovehandles and saddlebags after a day of football.

My personal favorite is the veggies and dip. I like this one because itâ€™s consistent with the dipping factor which is necessary when watching the game. While you have to go for the fat free or light dip options, the flavor is still strong. The veggies, typically carrots, broccoli and celery, are super healthy with minimum calories and will fill you up pretty quickly. (I know I mentioned carrots and dip in a previous blog, but the veggie platter is too good to leave out!)

Another great snacking option is Orville Redenbacherâ€™s 100 calorie popcorn bags. Each bag holds just enough for one person and while it is 94% fat free, it tastes basically the same as regular popcorn.

Hummus and pretzels are another tasty snack that keep the calories and fat to a minimum. Any type of flavored hummus will pack that much more flavorâ€¦ Just make sure you portion out the pretzels instead of taking a whole bag to the couch and ending up with your daily caloric budget gone with one bag of pretzels. PS â€" The veggies work well here, too!

Now, I must admit that I do not drink beer that often. I am a wine girl. I switched from beer to wine when my weight was out of control. I found that I felt A LOT less bloated and chunky when I drank wine. I highly recommend trying the switch. If after two weeks you just canâ€™t take another sip of wine, just make sure you have a glass of water between every beer, and limit yourself. Same goes with the wine!

Be sure to think about ways to make what you eat everyday healthier, and when you need some ideas and inspiration for lowering your caloric intake check back to the blogs and recipes.